Newman has been careful to preserve many of Orwell’s best conceits and jargon, including Newspeak ... Newman solves the enduring mysteries of Orwell’s Julie without resorting to twisty or outlandish machinations. Her additions accord with the original on the level of both plot and language ... Newman hasn’t proved herself a worthy successor to Orwell; she’s outclassed him, both in knowledge of human nature and in character development. Julia should be the new required text on those high-school curricula, a stunning look into what happens when a person of strength faces the worst in humanity, as well as a perfect specimen of derivative art that, in standing on another’s shoulders, can reach a higher plane.
Subversive ... In addition to filling out the tragedy of Julia’s adolescence, Newman introduces several ingenious twists that let the plot proceed largely as expected but with curiously different implications ... While Julia depends on Orwell for its architecture, the novel’s ironic tone is Newman’s own. By switching the perspective from Winston, she has effectively expanded the story’s palette ... [A] lively heroine ... Although I wouldn’t presume to say that Newman’s novel is better than Orwell’s, I find Julia more humane than 1984, which, admittedly, may sound preposterous given Orwell’s intentions. But Newman presents a fuller consideration of the variety of lives under a murderous, humiliating political system.
Newman’s version dovetails with the original, following Winston and Julia’s romance and their plot to join the traitor Goldstein’s resistance. But it also embellishes the prehistory of 1984, and imagines a future beyond Orwell’s ending ... At its most compelling in its exploration of the grim reality of women’s lives under an authoritarian patriarchal regime ... The novel is coded to produce a desired focus — in this case, women’s experience. It’s not alone; contemporary publishing abounds with retellings of classic stories from women’s perspectives. But 1984 is a perplexing choice to return to ... The motives of Julia don’t seem to be concerned with the differences between Orwell’s period and our own political moment. Instead, its main project seems to be redressing the gender balance in Orwell’s fiction. As a result, claims for its 'timeliness' can only lead to vague generalizations about women’s oppression, rather than examining the political structures imposing it. For contemporary readers, whose reproductive rights are being encroached on by the right, the novel’s simplistic depiction of amalgamated socialist evils may feel somewhat out of step with present affairs ... As a retelling it is highly readable, innovative and entertaining. But as a political or feminist project, it only adds to the obfuscation of Orwell’s critique.
Remarkable ... 1984 fans will enjoy experiencing the story from this point forward through Julia’s eyes, but for readers who aren’t Orwellian scholars, it’s important that Julia hold up on its own as well.
Newman has created a character with hidden depths ... What enlivens this novel is its searing tone and the exactitude of the prose. Newman writes with great verve; her descriptions have the kind of energy and freshness needed for a successful retelling.
Ambitious ... Julia is a satisfying tribute act. Newman has deeply considered the language and culture of Orwell’s novel, which created its future setting by way of early 20th-century Britain, and takes us carefully through its familiar landscape ... But as she probes his vision and moves beyond it, Newman also provides an imaginative and intellectual critique of Orwell’s novel ... As she maps out this new territory, Newman forges a work that has its own emotional logic, and a character with her own vivid life. The portrait of Julia’s childhood is an ambitious mix of horror and freedom, and brings the reader to a deeper understanding of her gritty focus on survival ... Newman’s novel gradually turns into something like the replay of a video game, in which you are allowed to respawn as another avatar, to move through the same scenes with new lines, and get to a different place. This new trajectory is much less convincing than the original’s hard-won knowledge ... Afterwards, however, the book stayed powerfully with me. Julia’s will to survive, her childhood experiences, her sensual joys, her relationships with other women, all make this a complex and empathic vision that stands up well beside Orwell’s original, and at many points enriches it.
Brilliant...ambitious ... Although it never feels like Newman is imitating Orwell’s writing style, the novel has the same texture, and in scenes providing Julia’s take on passages from the original, Newman reproduces Orwell’s original dialogue verbatim. This is not a rewriting of 1984; it’s a faithful, respectful retelling of a familiar story from a fresh new angle. Wonderful.
Provocative ... Julia’s narrative voice is refreshingly fearless as she navigates her way around the Party’s nefarious thought policing, and a wicked plot twist spins the original narrative on its ear. Newman adds a fresh coat of menacing gray to Orwell’s gloomy world.
